Prologue: I need a PDA. A lovely Personal Digital Assistant to help me sort out my day. No I don't mean some virtual reality 3D hologram of a fine female secretary (although that would be nice *hint hint*), but one of those pocket sized little buggers that can be carried around and used to sort out all your stuff for you, no paper involved. So I left my love nest and made my way to the local retail park.
When you buy this device, do not let the sales person intimidate you into taking out a '5 year protection insurance scheme' if you do not want to take one out. The guy who served me kept hounding me to take out the 5 year one. No go? He then wanted me to take out the 3 year one. He obviously didn't understand 'No mate I don't wish to take out any scheme with your company'. I won't name the shop but remember, if they do that tell them, 'Ask me again and I will leave your shop, without paying.'
Legend. Nah I'm not talking about me, but this thin silvery device with the big touch screen and a lovely stylus to touch it
up with. Who would of thought Palm would release something so cool yet so cheap.
This is a lovely device, very thin and very sexy. You would pay around £130 for it and it would feel like you paid over £200 for it, excellently designed. It's about the size of a Pocket Gameboy (you do know what a Pocket Gameboy is right?) but heavier by three times. The stylus is slightly heavy but it feels metally sturdy and strong with a soft plastic bit at the end. Perfect for using it on the touch screen without scratching it up, unlike a nerd who gets bruised easily in a stiff wind. It slides away neatly at the side of the device as if it wasn't there in the first place. Ah... technical design genius...
I'm not going to overload you with the technical details, because let's face it half of us don't really give a toss. It's really the guys that really want to know and since there's more women than men in the world I should keep the majority happy! Guys, just click on the Product Infomration tab for it's specs :D. It's fast, but not as fast as other palmtop devices, but it can hold it's own and editing documents is a breeze. There is 32MB RAM available for you to store your stuff, according to Palm that is enough to store 18,000 extra programs onto it. Not enough? Well there's a Secure Digitalmemory card slot to add extra memory if you wish. Nuff said. The screen is large and clear with loads of colours so you can view your lovely photos on it, images move smoothly with no blurring and the touch screen is so sensitive it's like we're running our fingers along it's armpit. Minus smell. Since there isn't a keyboard you need to write freehand with the stylus. But the graffiti (the method of writing) writing thing this Palm uses it so easy to pick up you'll learn it within 5 minutes of switching it on. It's basically the way we write but just slightly altered for those hard to reach places.
But what is a device without it's flaws? This machine is by no means perfect, the single speaker on it if turned up too high will growl at you like a Chihuahua having an asthma attack. Keep it at moderate levels! Recommend you use a pair of earphones and plug it into the earphone jack for MUCH better quality sound. The interface you interact with is Palm OS 5.2.1 but man is it an ugly grey interface. Definately not going to win any Miss World awards, but if it took part in the Olympics it would out run all the Athletes because man... it's fast. You want to do wireless? *uncontrollable laughter* well if you want to there's the Infra Red but everybody knows how slow and unreliable it is. You have more luck squeezing milk from a man's nipples than getting Infra Red working reliably. The only way to get stuff onto the Palm is through the USB cable or the Secure Digital memory card. The entire thing may be designed with attractive silver but you can smudge it easily with fingerprints. Seeing as my entire hands are filled with fingerprints it is totally unavoidable. A quick wipe would remedy it but I like to be able to use it more rather than having to clean it more. The last complaint I have is battery life. It claims '7 days of battery life' but in reality it is 4-5 days. If I use it constantly it's 3 hours, that's very dissapointing since the Palm is not that fast. I am glad it's not a pacemaker.
So flaws aside what can this piece of technology do? Well you can view your pictures with it, you can edit your Office Word/Excel/Powerpoint files on it, listen to MP3s, watch videos, take quick notes, organise your day, surf the internet (when it has internet access) and read ebooks with it. All this straight out of the box without purchasing extra software. There are also games on the device and emulators that let you play console games i.e. Gameboy Advance, so that's very tempting (you must own game to be legally allowed to play it on the Palm) but they will need downloading or purchasing. This device really is a mini box of tricks, I actually wrote this review on my Tungsten E before uploading it here. Not to shabby don't you think? The organiser is also very easy to use, just go to Calendar, select a date on the calendar and enter what you're doing that day at the time you wish for it to go off. Activate the alarm then when the time comes... BEEEEEEP!!!! MOVE YOUR BATTY!
So what doth thou think? Doth this machine tickle thy fancy? It did for me and I am happy with it immensely! Currently showing it off playing The Lord of the Rings movie 1 on it to me mates and reading Anne Rice novels on it at night (backlit screen is a godsend!) If you want a cheap but fast machine to help manage you life and more besides, stop looking at the Woolworth's paper organiser section and buy this baby!
Epilogue: 1 year warantee, comes with one USB cable, one screen cover, whole bunch of manuals, two CD drivers and utlities, registration card and a receipt. Well you need the receipt just in case right?
Pictures of Palm Tungsten E
Surf board mode
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Handheld - 128 MB RAM - Screen: 4 in inch - Display: TFT active matrix - CPU: XScale PXA310 - Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi - Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Classic
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with the Carcomm powered PDA mount. Ready for connection to a GPS receiver, the PDA cradle uses the manufacturer\'s original cradle connector, ensuring a perfect fit
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Anti-reflective coating: no* Scratch resistance: Pencil hardness 4H .. 5H* Dirt-repellent: strongFor devices with multiple displays 1 film per display in the packageVikuiti Crystal clear screen protector DQC160Invisible protectionThe scratch-resistant surface protects your display for damages of any kind without being conspicuous. With a very high scratch resistance of 4 .. 5H survives the film itself aggressive contact with sharp objects. Due to the dirt surface remain no trace of ball point pens or similar term.Crystal surfaceThe high transparency and optical quality of the film make it virtually invisible. The glossy surface makes images appear to contrast.Easy to mount, completely removableThe film has a little sticky, slightly wetting adhesive layer. Should you sell your unit back to the film at any time easily and completely removable.
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your display is turned off you will enjoy a qualitative mirror effect.No thin foil with bad mirror effect, as with many other providers.If you activate the display, the foil becomes transparent and allows anunresticted view of the display.100% accurate cutting - including the pull tabEasy fitting - Optimized for touch screensResidue-free removalDelivery including detailed and easily understandable instructionsPackaging unit:1 foil1 cleaning cloth1 Application GuideAdvantages:Free shipping within Germanyincreases the resale value of your applianceDelivery time within Germany: 1-2 business daysDelivery time within Europe: 1-3 business days30-day right of withdrawalInvoice including VAT
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Advantages: Screen good in all light, Lightning Fast, Works with Outlook and Office apps, Palm Reader makes ebooks very easy to read, can fit a huge ammount of information in 32Mb Disadvantages: The lack of a cradle and case are the only cons, but at this price you can't complain too much.
peterrogers 17.01.2004 (17.01.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Palm Tungsten E
Advantages: Screen good in all light, Lightning Fast, Works with Outlook and Office apps, Palm Reader makes ebooks very easy to read, can fit a huge ammount of information in 32Mb Disadvantages: The lack of a cradle and case are the only cons, but at this price you can't complain too much.
peterrogers 17.01.2004 (17.01.2004)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Palm Tungsten E
Sep 5th, 2004
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